Needless Sacrifice
by secretfanficlover
Summary: Some things just aren't meant to work out as planned, Hermione confronts the Dark Lord and the unthinkable happens. Warnings: Death, loss, murder, war


**This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**

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Word Count: 1123

Title: Needless Sacrifice

Warnings: Death, murder, war

Beta: chishibi

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Hogwarts:

Assignment 2: Task 2 - Weight Machines - Write about someone feeling like they're carrying 'the weight of the world' on their shoulders.

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The Golden Snitch

[Name] Crissie

[School] Uagadou

[House] Ogyinae

Ollivanders: 8–9 inch: Write about a Gryffindor

AU month: Category 3: Song Prompt: To Live Is To Die - Metallica

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Quidditch League: Reversal of Fate

Seeker: Hermione Granger.

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_When a man lies he murders some part of the world _

_These are the pale deaths _

_Which men miscall their lives _

_All this I cannot bear to witness any longer _

_Cannot the kingdom of salvation _

_Take me home_

The night when the Death Eaters stormed the castle arrived way too soon.

Professor McGonagall had all the Slytherin students taken to the dungeons. Because they seemed most likely to be swayed by the voice of Voldemort echoing through the walls of the castle.

The Slytherins and all the first and second years were taken away with the prefects. The older students who chose to stay and fight helped the Order members cast protective charms on the castle to delay the Death Eaters.

"We cannot stop them, Minerva," Molly Weasley said as they held their wands to the sky just before they chanted the incantation.

"I know, but we can delay them," she responded, standing proud and tall.

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It was true that Harry believed he was going to die that night in the forest, but he would never have guessed what ended up happening instead.

He managed to survive with the help of the stone, but he was unconscious when Hagrid laid him down in front of all the students and Death Eaters alike.

"Harry Potter is dead!" the voice of Voldemort echoed through the crowd of people gathered there. "Join me, or prepare to meet the same fate," he added, watching the students and calling them to join his cause.

Lucius Malfoy gestured for Draco Malfoy to join his side, and the latter tried to be as small as possible when he walked over to join the Death Eater's side, which looked like a swarm of black cloaks and metallic masks.

Hermione was furious. It was out of character and stupid, but she walked forward to face the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort himself.

Hermione's mind was thinking over all the loss. She couldn't help but imagine the death of Harry's parents, as well as Remus and Tonks. Her mind was running through all the people that died at the hands of this madman, and suddenly she couldn't help but feel like there must be something she could do.

Her thoughts went to her parents; losing them had been hard for her. But at least she knew that if she was to die tonight, and they would not mourn her loss since they would not remember her at all.

The memory charm had been powerful to erase her entire life from them, but it was worth it to see them safe and away from this mess. Although as a Muggleborn she wished she could have turned a blind eye as well, she knew that it would not only affect the Magical world but the Muggle one as well. Someone needed to protect those without magic because they couldn't save themselves, at least not from _him_.

If that took the sacrifice of her own life, then so be it. She would confront this monster and make the students aware that she was not afraid of him. She would face death the same way that Harry did.

He had courage, and she was determined to live up to his legacy and make him proud. So, she walked out from behind the stalemate of teachers to Voldemort as he called those to his ranks.

She was disgusted when she saw Malfoy skulking over to Voldemort's side, standing beside his parents. It was clear he wished he was anywhere but there.

"You coward! You think killing a child makes you a hero?" she cried. Bellatrix Lestrange was watching her and stepped forward, only to be prevented by her master's hand.

"Now now, Bella, let the child speak," he said.

"You are a coward, all of you, hiding behind masks," she continued. Ron was trying furiously to get her to fall back behind the teachers, but she refused to stop. "Hermione, come here!" he shouted frantically. He couldn't lose her too.

"Oh, silly girl, you think that defeating a boy makes me a coward? He was the one who defied me," Voldemort said to her. In the chaos and distraction Hermione caused, nobody noticed when the body of Harry started to move. She didn't realise that he wasn't dead, perhaps that would have changed things, and maybe it wouldn't. So it happened that Hermione was confronting the evilest wizard ever born.

There was no way she could stop once the floodgates had opened. She continued to talk without stopping.

"You are not a great Wizard, all you have is illusions of grandeur, and you will never know love, and for that, I feel sorry for you," she said. She thought of Teddy, an orphan of war heroes, and Neville, who lost his parents to them as well.

"We have something worth fighting for, something you will never understand," she continued. Her mind was swimming with images of her, Ron and Harry, their adventures during the years. She started tearing up, emotional from all the death that was surrounding them.

She thought of the day in the girls' bathroom when they saved her life from the troll. The day they got into the Chamber of Secrets, making Polyjuice in the bathroom... All those experiences they shared and now there were only two of them. Perhaps only one. They were in their youth, yet here they were in the middle of one of the most significant wars in Wizard History.

"Harry might have died," she added through her tears. The Death Eaters hissed at the mention of the name of the boy. "He died, but death is a mere part of life, and he will not have died in vain, he is part of all our lives." Her heart was aching for the loss that they all experienced, knowing that in the end. There will always be those that seek only power and to destroy what's right in the world.

All the Death Eater's attention focused on Hermione, only the ones behind her noticed that Harry was moving. Hermione stood her ground, drawing her wand to throw a curse at Voldemort, so overcome with emotion that she couldn't see that there was no other outcome for them.

"They say to live is to die," she said before she drew a breath and raised her wand to let out a final curse, although her mind was blank of the consequences. "Petr..." she started the curse, but it never left her lips.

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix cried, and the brunette was dead after the flash of emerald green light, and her body was cold before it hit the ground. Her brown curly hair lay in tendrils around her face. No scream passed her lips.


End file.
